New Jersey Online Poker Sites Overview

Updated on September 1, 2019

Poker is a popular casino game played in person or over the internet. It’s a peer-to-peer game, which means players compete against each other rather than the house.

New Jersey is one of four states with legal online gambling, and players have several online poker sites and NJ poker apps to choose from. And now, New Jersey players can compete against players from Nevada and Delaware thanks to an agreement to share players among the states.

Best New Jersey online poker sites

Each poker site uses its own software client, which creates small differences in presentation. Available stakes and game types also vary from site to site, as does the size of tournaments and prize pools.

NJ online poker sites list

Online poker variants available in New Jersey

Texas hold’em is the most popular variant of the poker, and it is available on every NJ online poker site. Hold’em is usually played with either fixed betting limits or the more common no-limit format.

Omaha is the four-card version of hold’em, and it is especially popular as an “action game” at the cash game tables. Pot-limit betting is the most common format for Omaha.

Most online poker sites also offer seven-card stud tables, but they are few and far between. Stud games are fixed-limit games.

NJ online poker cash games

Cash games typically start with blinds as low as $.01/.02. Games are available throughout the full range of stakes, all the way up to about $100/200. The highest-stakes tables are not typically active.

NJ online poker tournaments

Tournaments are more akin to a marathon than a sprint. When players buy into a tournament, they receive a stack of chips which have no redeemable value of their own. Players have to keep playing until they either run out of chips or collect every one of them from every player in the tournament. There is no cashing out, and winnings are based on finishing position.

The field is condensed into fewer tables as players are eliminated, with about ten percent of the starters typically earning a payout. Tournaments prize pools are heavily weighted at the top, with the winner receiving the biggest share.

NJ online poker sit & go’s

Sit & Go’s are essentially one-table tournaments. They run on-demand throughout the day, starting as often as there are enough players to run. Online poker sites offer sit & go’s across a wide variety of stakes and formats.

New Jersey mobile poker

Every NJ online poker site offers a mobile client on both Android and iOS. These apps allow players to play from anywhere within the state’s borders, even while waiting for a table in a brick-and-mortar poker room.

Differences between live poker and online poker

While live poker can be slow and tedious at times, online poker is fast-paced and graphically pleasing.

The absence of a physical dealer means there’s no delay for shuffling in between hands. Expect to see around 50 hands per hour, about twice what you’d see in a casino. Players always post their blinds and antes automatically, and there are no disputes over logistics. There are typically no issues with impropriety or dealer error, either, as the game is controlled electronically.

Rake also tends to be smaller online. Online poker sites don’t have to pay dealers and floor staff, obviously, so the margins aren’t as tight as they are in brick-and-mortar poker rooms. Each online poker site publishes a rake chart on its website.

NJ online poker networks

At the moment, seven NJ online poker sites operate across four networks:

888/WSOP

Borgata Poker/PartyPoker/playMGM Poker

Pala Poker

PokerStars

NJ online poker casino partnerships

Regulations require online poker sites to obtain licensure through a land-based casino property. Here are the current partnerships:

Borgata: Borgata Poker/Pala Poker/PartyPoker/playMGM Poker

Caesars: 888/WSOP

Resorts: PokerStars

NJ multistate online poker

In 2017, then-Gov. Chris Christie signed NJ into the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association.

That organization establishes a framework by which states can combine player pools and share liquidity online.

Tax revenue is also shared, with each state receiving its slice from players within its borders. Founding members Delaware and Nevada have been linked for a couple years, but the addition of NJ creates a much more robust network. That is already resulting in bigger tournaments and more cash games, making poker more attractive for players in all three states.

At the moment, the 888/WSOP network is the only one licensed and approved in all three states. As of April 30, players on those sites share the same lobby and most of the same available games.